Overhung disk chipper

ABSTRACT

An overhung chipper disk is mounted on one cantilever end of a stub shaft, and a drive pulley is mounted on the other end of such shaft. The disk-supporting end of the shaft extends through one side of a chip-receiving housing enclosing the chipping disk from which chips are discharged through a bottom discharge opening or are blown out of the upper portion of the housing by a centrifugal blower, the impeller of which is mounted on the chipping disk. An infeed spout is connected to the upright side of the housing through which the chipping disk extends, either above the shaft, alongside the downwardly turning side of the shaft or below the shaft, at an outer angle of 37 1/2 * relative to the plane of the chipping disk. A portion of the housing side opposite the infeed spout may be inclined downward away from the chipping disk to reduce impact of chips against the housing wall. The air inlet for a chip discharge blower may be located in registration with the infeed spout connection, so that the inflowing air current blowing onto the chips will deter their impact against the housing.

United States Patent [191 [451 Feb. 18, 1975 Lunn [ OVERHUNG DISKCHIPPER [75] Inventor: Edward O. Lunn, Vancouver,

British Columbia, Canada [73] Assignee: Nicholson Manufacturing Company,

Seattle, Wash.

[22] Filed: Aug. 27, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 391,628

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 5, 1972 Canada 150963 [52]US. Cl 241/55, 144/176, 241/92, 241/278 R [51] Int. Cl. B02c 18/14 [58]Field of Search 241/55, 56, 92, 278 R; 144/176 [56] References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS 3,123,311 3/1964 Fohtaine' 241/278 R X 3,332,4617/1967 Ledergerber 241/278 R X 3,407,854 10/1968 Lindberg et a1. 241/92X 3,410,495 11/1968 Eklund 241/278 R 3,572,594 3/1971 Kershaw 241/553,590,896 7/1971 Hill et al 241/92 3,635,410 l/l972 Smith 241/563,661,329 5/1972 Smith et al 241/92 X 3,732,907 5/1973 Nystrom et a1.144/176 Primary ExaminerGranvi1le Y. Custer, Jr. AssistantExaminer-Howard N. Goldberg Attorney, Agent, or FirmRobert W. Beach [57]ABSTRACT An overhung chipper disk is mounted on one cantilever end of astub shaft, and a drive pulley is mounted on the other end of suchshaft. The disk-supporting end of the shaft extends through one side ofa chipreceiving housing enclosing the chipping disk from which chips aredischarged through a bottom dis charge opening or are blown out of theupper portion of the housing by a centrifugal blower, the impeller ofwhich is mounted on the chipping disk. An infeed spout is connected tothe upright side of the housing through which the chipping disk extends,either above the shaft, alongside the downwardly turning side of theshaft or below the shaft, at an outer angle of 37% relative to the planeof the chipping disk. A portion of the housing side opposite the infeedspout may be inclined downward away from the chipping disk to reduceimpact of chips against the housing wall. The air inlet for a chipdischarge blower may be located in registration with the infeed spoutconnection, so that the inflowing air current blowing onto the chipswill deter their impact against the housing.

4 Claims, 20 Drawing Figures PATENTED FEB 1 8 1915 saw nor a PATENTEDFEB] 8 I875 SHEET 5 BF 6 OVERI-IUNG DISK CHIPPER The chipper of thepresent invention is of the disk type, sometimes referred to as a frontend drive chipper, and is intended for chipping wastewood, includingmill ends, and also logs.

A principal object is to provide a chipper which is of compactconstruction and which will minimize impact of chips produced against astationary wall, which impact tends to break up the chips.

More specifically, it is an object to provide a chipper having anoverhung chipping disk received in a housing to which wood to be chippedis fed from the same side that the chipping disk is supported, so as tominimize structure against which chips cut by the disk can be thrown. 7

Another object is to provide a chipper construction which is versatileby enabling the feed spout to be placed at different locations relativeto the chipping disk.

An additional object is to provide a chipper including a blower forconveying chips cut, which blower is arranged to reduce the breakage ofsuch chips.

A further object is to reduce dynamically the velocity of chipsdischarged from a chipping disk, so as to reduce breakage of chipsstriking structure of the chipper.

FIG. 1 is a plan of a chipper according to the present invention, withparts broken away.

FIG. 2 is an end elevation of the chipper.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the chipper.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of a portion of thechipper of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, having parts broken away, and

FIG. 5 is a detail elevation of the feed spout of the chipper.

FIG. 6 is an end elevation and FIG. 7 is a side elevation of analternative type of chipper according to the present invention, partsbeing broken away. 7

FIG. 8 is a plan of a chipper similar to that shown in FIGS. 6 and 7,but somewhat modified, having parts broken away.

FIG. 9 is an end elevation of a component of the chipper shown in FIG. 8with parts broken away, and FIG. 10 is a side elevation of such chippercomponent, having parts broken away.

FIG. 11 is an end elevation of a chipper component similar to FIG. 9,but of somewhat different construction, with parts broken away, and

FIG. 12 is a section taken on line l2l2 of FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is an end elevation of a chipper component similar to that shownin FIG. 9 and that shown in FIG. 11, but having still differentstructural features, parts being broken away, and

FIG. 14 is a section through such component taken on line l4l4 of FIG.13.

FIG. 15 is a plan of another form of chipper according to the presentinvention with parts broken away.

FIG. 16 is an end elevation and FIG. 17 is a side elevation of suchchipper, having parts broken away.

FIG. 18 is a detail elevation of a portion of such chipper taken on line18-18 of FIG. 15.

FIG. 19 is an enlarged detail vertical section through a portion of thechipper shown in FIGS. l5, l6 and 17, with parts broken away.

FIG. 20 is a detail elevation of a component of the chipper having partsbroken away.

An advantageous feature of the chipper of the present invention is itscompactness to which the small base 1 makes an important contribution.Such base supports the working parts of the chipper from which chips aredischarged into a housing having an upright side 2 adjacent to thechipper. The opposite side 3 of the housing has a lower portion whichpreferably is inclined downwardly away from the upright side 2, as shownin FIGS. 3 and 4. The upper portion of such housing can be substantiallysemicylindrical having parallel upright sides.

Chunks, or even logs, of wastewood to be chipped can be fed lengthwisethrough the feed spout 4 toward the chipping disk 5 located in thecasing 2, 3. Such chipping disk has radial slots 6 through it forpassage of chips cut from the wood by radially extending knives 7carried by the disk. As shown best in FIGS. 3 and 4, the chipping disk 5is of the overhung type, being mounted on the cantilever end of stubshaft 8 which projects through the upright wall 2 of the housing. Thefeed spout 4 is connected to this same housing wall at a location belowthe shaft 8, so that the chipper may be termed an underfeed type.

The central portion of the stub shaft 8 is mounted on the base 1 by along bearing assembly 9, so that the opposite ends of such shaft aresupported in cantilever fashion. As stated, one end of such shaftprojects through the housing wall 2 into the chip-receiving housing, andthe chipping disk 5 is mounted on it. A drive pulley 10 for rotating thestub shaft is mounted in overhung fashion on its other cantilever end.Drive belts 11 of the V-belt type connect the shaft pulley 10 and amotor pulley 12 driven by motor 13 to rotate the chipping disk 5.Because of the compact arrangement of the chipping disk 5 and shaft 8,the drive motor 13 and the feed spout 4, the base 1 supporting thesecomponents can be quite small and comparatively light and inexpensive.

As indicated by the broken arrow in FIG. 2, the chipping disk 5 rotatesin clockwise direction, as viewed from the disk-mounting end of theshaft. The axis of the feed chute 4 is inclined at an acute angle of 37relative to the plane of the chipping disk, as shown in FIG. 1, so thatthe knives 7 will cut from a side of a piece of wood fed lengthwise intothe chute toward the leading end of the piece. In addition, it ispreferred that the radially outer end of each knife trail its radiallyinner end to some extent. Consequently, the knife will slice chips fromthe wood piece, instead of chopping directly against the grain.

Chips cut by the chipping disk knives 7 are impelled through the slots 6of the disk with considerable momentum by the cutting action, asindicated by the arrows in FIG. 4. It is highly desirable to minimizebreakage and splintering which could result from impact of the chipsdischarged through slots 6 against a stationary wall or other structure,such as a shaft or shaft housing, close to such slots. Where the feedspout is of the underfeed type, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, inclusive, andsuch spout is connected to the same wall 2 of the chipreceiving housingas that through which the cantilever end of the stub shaft 8 extends, itis feasible to locate the wall 3 of the housing opposite wall 2 at aconsiderable distance from the chipping disk slots 6 through which thechips pass.

FIGS. 3 and '4 show the lower portion of the housing side 3 as beinginclined downward away from the housing side 2 from approximately theelevation of the shaft 8. The bottom of the housing is completely opento provide a bottom chip discharge chute 14. Since the trajectory of thechips discharged through the lower disk slots 6 is downward, the lowerportion of the wall 3 slopes downward away from the chipping disk, and

such wall is located a considerable distance from the chipping disk, anychips which strike the lower portion of wall 3 will approach the wall ata small angle of incidence, so as to reduce the force of impact of suchchips with the wall and thereby minimize shattering of the chips. Suchwall contour and location is made possible by utilizing a chipping diskof the overhung type carried by a stub shaft mounted at the same side ofthe chipreceiving housing as the feed spout.

In the alternative type of chipper shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the chips,instead of being discharged by gravity, are blown by a current of air toa storage bin or location for utilization. In this chipper, the overhungchipping disk and drive pulley 10 again are carried by theoppositecantilever ends of a stub shaft 8 mounted on the base 1 by a longbearing assembly 9. The principal difference of this chipper over thatshown in FIGS. 1 to 5 is in the chip-receiving casing and blowermechanism. A well is provided alongside the support for the chipper base1 for receiving the lower portion 16 of a centrifugal blower scrollhousing, which is of generally semicylindrical shape. The upper portion17 of such housing, also of generally semicylindrical shape, is mountedon the lower housing section 16.

The entire blower housing 16, 17 is supported with its opposite planarsides upright. The stub shaft 8 is substantially horizontal, and itscantilever end carrying the chipping disk 5 projects through one of theupright sides of the chip-receiving housing. A feed spout 18, throughwhich pieces of wood to be chipped are fed, connects to the same side ofthe blower housing as that through which the end of shaft 8 supportingchipping disk 5 projects. Consequently, there is no mechanicalstructure, such as a shaft end and bearing, to limit the practical axialwidth of the housing 16, 17. In the chipper of FIGS. 6 and 7, the feedspout 18 is shown as being inclined at an acute angle of 37% relative tothe plane of the chipping disk downwardly toward the upright wall of thechip-receiving housing to which it is connected. Consequently, such achipper may be designated as a drop-feed chipper. As shown in FIG. 6,the feed spout enters the same side of the housing as shaft 8 but at alocation offset from the shaft and at approximately the same elevation.

Chips cut by the knives of chipping disk 5 are impelled through theslots 6 of such disk into the lower portion 16 of the chip-receivinghousing. The chips are blown from such housing by the current of airproduced by a centrifugal blower impeller rotated in the housing. Suchimpeller includes annular sideplates 19 secured to the opposite ends ofthe blower vanes 20. One of the sideplates 19 is secured to theperiphery of the chipping disk 5 at circumferentially spaced locationsby mounting angles 21, so that the blower impeller is carried androtated by the chipping disk 5.

The outer portion of the edges of blower vanes 20 are supported bygussets 22 projecting radially outwardly from the sideplates 19 andsecured to the blade, ends. It will be seen from FIGS. 6 and 7 that theannular sideplates 19 0f the blower impeller are radially quite narrow,and their inner diameters are the same and approximately equal to thediameter of the chipping disk 5. The leading sides of the blower vanes20 preferably are concave to increase the effectiveness of the impellerin producing an air current.

Air is admitted to the blower casing 16, 17 through the air inletopening 23 in the central portion of that wall of the blower housingopposite that through which the cantilever end of shaft 8 projects. Airand chips are discharged tangentially of the housing through the outlet24. A discharge duct 25 leading to a storage bin or chip utilizationlocation is connected to the housing outlet. Chips discharged into thehousing through the slots 6 are picked up by the air current produced bythe blower impeller and carried around the housing to the outlets 24through which they are discharged into the duct 25.

FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 show an alternative type of impeller construction inwhich the radially narrow annular sideplates 19 of the rotor shown inFIGS. 6 and 7 are replaced by sideplates 26 of a radial width equal tothe full radial extent of the blower vanes 20. Use of side plates ofsuch width eliminates the need for the supporting gussets 22.

Chips cut by the blades 7 of the chipping disk 5 may be impelled throughthe slots 6 of the disk with sufficient momentum that they will strikethe wall of the lower casing section 16 opposite that through whichshaft 8 projects with a force great enough to fracture the chips to agreater or lesser extent. Such tendency for chip damage can be reducedby modifying the construction of the impeller shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, orin FIGS. 8, 9 and 10, to the construction of FIGS. 11 and 12. In thisinstance, the edges of the vanes 20 adjacent to the wall of the housingthrough which shaft 8 projects are secured to an annular sideplate 26 ofthe type described in connection with FIGS. 8, 9 and 10.

In the blower of FIGS. 11 and 12, the edges of blades 20 remote from thecasing wall through which the shaft 8 projects are secured to an annularimpeller side plate 27, which is of a radial width extending from thehousing air inlet housing aperture 23 to the radially outer edges ofvanes 20. The inner periphery of the sideplate 27 therefore provides anopening 28 through which air can pass from the inlet 23 to the interiorof the impeller, which opening is approximately the same size as thesize of the air inlet.

With this rotor construction, the rotary side plate 27 overlies andmasks the side of the blower housing opposite that through which shaft 8projects so as to protect the chips from striking the stationary wall ofthe housing. On the contrary, any chips which are carried axially acrossthe blower impeller will strike only the rotating plate 27, which willdecrease greatly the force with which the chips strike the plate andreduce chip breakage.

With the blower construction shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the prospect ofchip damage is still farther reduced. The impeller construction of thischipper is the same as that shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10, includingannular side plates 26 secured to the opposite axial ends of blowervanes 20. In this instance, however, instead of the air inlet apertureto the housing being located substantially in the center of the housing,as is the inlet 23 shown in FIG. 8, the inlet 29 is offset from thecenter of the housing, so as to be located in substantially axialregistration with the connection of the feed spout 18 to the housingwall, as shown in both FIGS. 13 and 14. The central apertu Z S' in plate26 oppositethe chipping disk 6 is large enough to overlap the offset airirilet fi as show?! in FIGS. 13 and 14.

Since the cutting of the chips occurs substantially at the location ofthe connection of feed spout 18 to the housing wall, the chips will beimpelled through the slots 6 substantially in registration with suchfeed spout connection. The momentum of air entering the inlet opening 29will prevent emergence of any appreciable quantity of chips from suchair inlet opening, and the air current will oppose and quell themomentum of the chips passing through the slots 6. Consequently, thechips will be entrained almost immediately by the inflowing air anddiverted into an orbital path through the blower, so as to eliminatevirtually all risk of the chips striking any surface of the blower witha force sufficiently great to fracture the chips.

In the alternative type of chipper shown in FIGS. to 19, inclusive, thefeed spout 30 is located at an elevation higher than the shaft 8, sothat such chipper may be designated as an overfeed or spout-over-shafttype.

As in the chippers described above, the length of the feed spout issubstantially parallel to a horizontal plane but again, as in the deviceof FIGS. 1 to 3, is arranged with its axis at an angle to the wall ofthe chip-receiving housing to which the spout connects at an acute angleof 37% relative to the portion of the chipping disk 5 moving toward thefeed spout, i.e., the upwardly moving portion of the chipping disk. Inthis instance, the chips are discharged from the housing through agravity discharge chute 14.

In order to reduce breakage of chips by striking a sta-. tionary housingwall with a hard impact the upper portion 31 of the side opposite thehousing side through which shaft 8 projects is inclined downwardly awayfrom that casing side. Consequently, if chips impelled through slots 6in the upper portion of the chipping disk 5 strike the housing wall 31at all, such striking will be at a glancing angle, so that the tendencyof the chip to be injured will be greatly reduced.

The lower portion 32 of the side of the housing opposite that throughwhich shaft 8 projects can be upright as shown in FIGS. 17 and 19,because, by the time the chip has fallen through the upper portion ofthe housing, its trajectory will be principally downward, so that,again, if a chip strikes the housing wall, it will be with a glancingimpact which will not have a great tendency to fracture the chip. Theprospect of chips striking the wall of the housing opposite the chippingdisk can be further reduced by increasing the width of the housingconveniently, because of the overhung type of construction of thechipping disk and the arrangement in which the feed spout connects tothe same side of the housing through which the shaft 8 supporting thechip- 1. An overhung disk chipper comprising a base, a generallyhorizontal drive shaft carried rotatively by said base and having acantilever end portion, an overhung chipping disk carried rotatively bysaid cantilever end portion of said drive shaft for upward movement ofthe portion of said chipping disk at one side of said shaft and downwardmovement of the portion of said chipping disk at the other side of saidshaft and said chipping disk carrying chip-cutting bits on the sidethereof to which said shaft is connected for cutting wood into chips, ahousing for said chipping disk having an upright wall at the same sideof said chipping disk as said shaft, and an elongated feed spout at thesame side of said chipping disk as said shaft and housing upright wall,having an end connected to said housing upright wall only at a locationabove said shaft and having its length disposed substantially parallelto a horizontal plane and at an acute angle relative to theupwardlymoving portion of said chipping disk for guiding pieces of woodto be cut into chips to move lengthwise of such wood pieces andlengthwise of said feed spout through said housing upright wall to saidchipping disk.

2. The chipper defined in claim I, in which the housing includes asecond wall at the side of the chipping disk opposite the upright wall,and said second wall has a portion higher than the shaft inclineddownwardly away from the upright wall for deflecting downward chipspassing through the upper portion of the chipping disk.

3. An overhung disk chipper comprising a base, a generally horizontaldrive shaft carried rotatively by said base and having a cantilever endportion, an overhung chipping disk carried rotatively by said cantileverend portion of said drive shaft and carrying chipcutting bits on theside thereof to which said shaft is connected for cutting wood intochips, a housing for said chipping disk having an upright wall at thesame side of said chipping disk as said shaft, an elongated feed spoutat the same side of said chipping disk as said shaft and housing uprightwall, having an end connected to said housing upright wall and havingits length disposed at an acute angle relative to the portion of saidchipping disk moving toward said feed spout for guiding pieces of woodto be cut into chips to move lengthwise of such wood pieces andlengthwise of said feed spout, and rotary blower means in said housingop erable to blow therefrom chips cut by said chipping disk, saidhousing including a second wall at the side of said chipping diskopposite said upright wall, and said second wall having an air inletopening for said blower means located generally in registrationtransversely of said chipping disk with the connection of said feedspout to said housing upright wall and of generally the same size as theend of said feed spout connected to said housing upright wall.

4. The chipper defined in claim 3, in which the blower means includes animpeller mounted in cantilever fashion on the chipping disk, and saidimpeller includes an annular plate at the side of said impeller oppositethe chippingdisk and having a central aperture overlapping the air inletopening.

1. An overhung disk chipper comprising a base, a generally horizontaldrive shaft carried rotatively by said base and having a cantilever endportion, an overhung chipping disk carried rotatively by said cantileverend portion of said drive shaft for upward movement of the portion ofsaid chipping disk at one side of said shaft and downward movement ofthe portion of said chipping disk at the other side of said shaft andsaid chipping disk carrying chip-cutting bits on the side thereof towhich said shaft is connected for cutting wood into chips, a housing forsaid chipping disk having an upright wall at the same side of saidchipping disk as said shaft, and an elongated feed spout at the sameside of said chipping disk as said shaft and housing upright wall,having an end connected to said housing upright wall only at a locationabove said shaft and having its length disposed substantially parallelto a horizontal plane and at an acute angle relative to theupwardly-moving portion of said chipping disk for guiding pieces of woodto be cut into chips to move lengthwise of such wood pieces andlengthwise of said feed spout through said housing upright wall to saidchipping disk.
 2. The chiPper defined in claim 1, in which the housingincludes a second wall at the side of the chipping disk opposite theupright wall, and said second wall has a portion higher than the shaftinclined downwardly away from the upright wall for deflecting downwardchips passing through the upper portion of the chipping disk.
 3. Anoverhung disk chipper comprising a base, a generally horizontal driveshaft carried rotatively by said base and having a cantilever endportion, an overhung chipping disk carried rotatively by said cantileverend portion of said drive shaft and carrying chip-cutting bits on theside thereof to which said shaft is connected for cutting wood intochips, a housing for said chipping disk having an upright wall at thesame side of said chipping disk as said shaft, an elongated feed spoutat the same side of said chipping disk as said shaft and housing uprightwall, having an end connected to said housing upright wall and havingits length disposed at an acute angle relative to the portion of saidchipping disk moving toward said feed spout for guiding pieces of woodto be cut into chips to move lengthwise of such wood pieces andlengthwise of said feed spout, and rotary blower means in said housingoperable to blow therefrom chips cut by said chipping disk, said housingincluding a second wall at the side of said chipping disk opposite saidupright wall, and said second wall having an air inlet opening for saidblower means located generally in registration transversely of saidchipping disk with the connection of said feed spout to said housingupright wall and of generally the same size as the end of said feedspout connected to said housing upright wall.
 4. The chipper defined inclaim 3, in which the blower means includes an impeller mounted incantilever fashion on the chipping disk, and said impeller includes anannular plate at the side of said impeller opposite the chipping diskand having a central aperture overlapping the air inlet opening.